I found myself quite a bit from home this weekend, going to a friend of my son's grad party when I stumbled upon Aegir Brewing. Full disclosure, I had to borrow the shot of the bar from the internet. I took a photo of their logo on the far wall, but didn't look at it before moving on and found it later to be blurred. When I got there, there was a Jeep event going on and their lot was lined on all sides with Jeeps on display, along with their proud owners. It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand. The mood was festive and the weather was great, so I picked an excellent time to go.
Aegir, pronounced Eye - Year, is a nod to the Nordic heritage of Minnesota and the vision of two brothers and a friend who started the brewery back in 2018. Aegir is a giant in Norse mythology, who ruled the sea along with his 9 daughters. He made the best ale in the 9 realms and it was said that all could come drink from horns that refilled themselves as long as they put their differences aside while in the hall or be banished forever. I doubt anyone was banished because who would want to give that up forever? Not I.
It was warm and I figured I would go with a good lighter beer, so I chose one of their flagships, Shield Maidens Blonde. It is a German blonde and my first sip brightened my face. It was good and a perfect choice. It was refreshing and flavorful like you'd want a blonde to be. With an IBU of just 21, it drinks smooth and has a sweet component to it. Though light in color, it's not a yellow beer and you could just tell by it's clouded orange color that it was going to taste good. My next thought was that it was named after the gorgeous blonde outside serving drinks, pictured above, who I found out is Chelsea. Unfortunately, she was busy and I never got to ask her. After downing a gyro I grabbed one more beer before departing. This time it was their Aegir IPA. If you know from my prior posts, I'm not a huge fan of IPA, but had already had several of them that weekend and the slew of grad parties I went to across the state. I like malty, caramel-flavored beer, so this IPA was intriguing, and it has a rich deep color. Admittedly, the color really doesn't mean a lot, but what it does do is set up your palate for the experience. You'd expect an IPA to be hoppy and this one is. Several types of hops are used and a fairly strong alcohol content gives this an IBU of 52. I liked it for its caramel flavor and it was easier to drink than some IPA's. Due to how busy they were, I had to drink from a plastic cup, which does take a little bit away from a beer, believe it or not. According to Spiegelau, a world renowned Bavarian beer glass maker, you only get 15% of the taste when drinking from a bottle and though that increases dramatically from a glass, plastic cups are not the proper shape. The foam at the top of a beer releases the aroma and it is smell, not palate that is the major component of taste. They specialize in making beer glasses for specific beer types to bring out the most in the beer. Too much information? Nevertheless, I would drink both of the beers I had again and they had a couple more I'd like to try.
My sojourn to Aegir was a pleasant surprise and proves there are diamonds in the rough, hidden away in the darndest places. I even tried to buy a t-shirt, but they were sold out in my size and their selection was almost zero, probably due to the Jeep event. They regularly have food trucks on site and an outside area with bean bag games and seating. It looks like they are community-oriented and host events quite often. If you find yourself in Elk River, Minnesota and are looking for good beer and atmosphere, give Aegir Brewing a try.
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